


The City By The Bay

by FlorenceofArabia



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies), Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: The Animated Series, Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Friendship, Mental Breakdown, Multi, Pre-Canon, San Francisco, Slow Build, Starfleet Academy, This is my first time using OC's please be nice to them, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-29
Updated: 2017-01-06
Packaged: 2018-02-27 09:17:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2687396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlorenceofArabia/pseuds/FlorenceofArabia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An exploration of the personalities who work and study at Starfleet Academy in San Francisco. When Christopher Pike is forced to take up a teaching position at Starfleet Academy he is forced to come to terms with various issues in his life. Another new instructor is Spock, a young man trying to reconcile the two halves of his duel identity. Added to the mix are a crop of new students each with plenty of dreams and aspirations but a fair share of baggage.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Grounded

"So Captain…or…can I call you Christopher?"

"You're new to this aren't you?" said Pike, in a tone that was blunt but not unkind. The Denobulan in the chair facing him fidgeted a little.

"Well yes…but don't worry I have a degree in Xenopsychology from…"

"The Phlox Institute. I know, you've adopted the human custom of displaying your degree on the wall. Congratulations, by the way. I know how prestigious that place is. You must be a bright young man."

"Thank you" Dr. Zefix couldn't help but smile a little at this before pressing on with some determination "But of course we're not here to talk about me"

"Sorry, it's a defense mechanism but I'm pretty sure you picked up on that." The doctor made a note on his PADD.

"Yes but…if you know what you are doing why do you continue to do it? Unless you are testing me which honestly I don't appreciate."

"I'm not that arrogant or that big of an asshole. I know most of what's wrong with me. If I may use an engineering metaphor, any moron can tell when a warp core is offline. It takes a genius to fix the thing."

"That is a good point but…Christopher…" He had to admit that calling Captain Pike by his first name felt inappropriate but if he kept focusing on rank he would never stop being intimidated by the man and that wouldn't serve either of them. "It lets you off the hook; thinking about things that way." Pike rearranged his arms so that he no longer rested them on the arms of the chair. Dr. Zephix felt a little relieved. He hadn't been in Starfleet long but one of the pieces of advice he had paid close attention to was something Dr. Boyce had told him about posture; "You know most humans cross their arms when they're being defensive? High-ranking officers, they try not to do this too much. They worry that their crew might pick up on it. You know they're uncomfortable when they sit the way they do when they're in the captain's chair. Rigid arms, straight back, leaning slightly forward. That means their bracing themselves."

"That's not untrue." Said the captain, shifting he weight yet again "But I didn't say it was impossible, I just meant it was hard."

"Fair point. We'll come back to that later. But what I really want to get to is how you feel about your new assignment"

"That's a nice way of asking me how I feel about being declared unfit for command and getting pushed into the jobs for the dumb pretty boys, fuck ups and relics."

"Don't you think that's an unfair judgment upon recruitment and teaching? Training cadets is no easy job"

"Sorry. I forgot some people actually want to do that and some have to for family reasons. Neither of these apply to me. I'm here on earth because my best friend told the brass that I was crazy" Zefix cleared his throat and double-checked Pike's medical file.

"I know you know there's a difference between "crazy" and "exhausted""

"Yeah and I also know the difference between "tired, needs to take a couple months leave" and "is in serious danger of breakdown, you can't trust this guy not to blow up his own ship, maybe a straightjacket is in line here…" Pike passed his hand over his face in an irritated gesture "I get it ok…I know I'm being hyperbolic here. But I'm sorry. You asked me how I felt and the answer is "shitty". I feel hurt and betrayed and weak and powerless. I'm humiliated and I'm angry. I feel like I let everyone down… I'm not the man they thought I was. I'm not the man I tried to be. So yeah, the short answer is I feel like shit. Right now I hate this assignment and would beat the tar out of it if that were physically possible. But you ask me how I feel next week and I'll be more reasonable and soon I'll be able to pretend I don't care then I'll have adjusted to it, because that's what people do. We done here?"

"Well that's…um… I suppose we are for now, I suppose…if you want us to be, but we will talk about all of this." Zefix knew he shouldn't be letting the man go like this but he felt he needed some time to come up with a rejoinder to the torrent of frustration that had just blindsided him.

"Thanks, I'll see you next Thursday but now I've got dinner with an old friend"

Pike opted to walk rather than take a cab. Now that he was out of a climate-controlled therapist's office and alone in the familiar city feeling real air on his face he begun to feel better. He knew the Denobulan was just doing his job and the sessions would get easier as he became resigned to babysitting cadets and hoping that eventually someone would be nice enough to give him another ship. It wasn't that he didn't believe in counseling, hell he was the first person to suggest to people that they seek help if they needed it. It just didn't work very well for him. Maybe he'd just gone over to the Phil Boyce Method for maintaining mental health, the main doctrine of which was that alcohol was a much better treatment option than medication. But of course if it hadn't been for Phil he'd still be in command of the Yorktown.

He took deep breaths and tried to concentrate on the city around him. During his lifetime more and more of the beautiful ancient buildings were disappearing in favor of modern constructions. It was a shame, to Pike a great deal of San Francisco's charm lay in the eclectic mix of the old and the new. An excellent example of this was the way ancient ethnic enclaves like Chinatown now coexisted with Non-Terran communities like the Orion district and Little Andoria. His destination was the former and he found it. As he walked down the familiar side street he pretended not to notice the knowing smirks he was getting from other human males heading in and out of the clubs which announced the presence of live green women in Standard, English and Orion. He went past them to a cluster of apartments and knocked on the door of one of them. It was opened by an unfamiliar Orion male.

"What do you want, pinkskin?"

"Is that Chris?" came a yell from an unseen woman at the top of the stairs

"Who's Chris?" asked the stranger glaring at him.

"That would be me. Illyiana's expecting me so if you'd get out of my way that would be much appreciated" The Orion must have picked up on the look of 'You don't want to mess with me tonight' Pike was sending his way because he stepped to the side and let the captain pass.

"Fine I'm leaving now!" he yelled "But you tell that psycho daughter of yours that no one treats my son like that. You hear me? Your lucky he's not pressing charges."

Pike climbed the short flight of stairs and walked into the kitchen where was greeted with a hug from the beautiful green woman he'd come to see.

"God Chris it's been forever. I've missed you! Did you always have this much grey in your hair or is that new?" Though Pike had intended just to give her a friendly hug then break apart but they were still holding each other. Old habits always died hard with him. She had a few grey hairs herself but in a way that made it clear that she died it back to her usual jet-black on a regular basis.

"Wow, you really know how to make a guy feel good about himself"

"Sorry baby, not my line. How's about I just make you feel good instead?" She replied in a tone that said she knew how cheesy her innuendo was but couldn't care less and before he knew it she'd pushed him down onto her kitchen table and had begun unbuttoning the front of her dress. Old habits apparently didn't even bother dying with them. Before she could finish disrobing he pulled her down on top of him and kissed her for the first time in years.

"I missed you too, Illiyana. I really did" She smirked at him as if to say "well duh" and they resumed kissing with greater intensity. Pike was just about to reach down and try and do something about the fact that his clothes were inconveniently on his body when a female voice interrupted them from the doorway.

"Oh sorry mom, I didn't know you'd have someone over…also can you guys try and stay as clothed as possible if you're going to be on the kitchen table, or at the very least clean it afterwards?" Pike desperately tried to stand up only to be pushed back down by Illiyana

"I can do whatever I like young lady this is my house and if you don't like what I do you don't have to live here. Honestly you sound so Terran sometimes" Pike managed to get free and sit up on the kitchen table; a position that though failing to erase any of the awkwardness gave him back a little dignity.

"I am Terran. If you didn't want me to be you should have stayed on Orion." grumbled the girl. She looked to be in her late teens, maybe early twenties at the most. She looked a lot like her mother but that might just be that they had the same phenotype. Thick dark hair, full lips without the black lipstick her mother wore. Also they both had dark emerald green skin, as opposed to the lime or yellow green color that was more common. This was due to Illiyana's having come from a fairly rural sparsely populated continent on her home planet.

"I meant human sweetie"

"Says the woman who has a human spread-eagled on the table…hey Captain Christopher Pike right?" Pike couldn't tell if the girl's recognition made him feel kind of proud or more embarrassed.

"Where do think you got your taste for men in uniform from?"

"Its not a taste. Starfleet guys are used to aliens therefore less annoying questions." She looked at Pike a little nervously "I'm D'Nal by the way."

"D'Nal of course. I'm sorry I didn't recognize you it's been so long. Don't…don't…I made this situation awkward. Your mother and I are very old friends and I was…we, well we're going out to dinner…"

"Oh crap I forgot about our reservations. Let me get dressed, I'll just be a minute." Illiyana darted out of the room leaving her daughter and her sometimes lover together.

"Who was that?" Pike asked D'Nal gesturing towards the stairs to indicate the man who'd just left

"Oh just my ex's dad. Things did not end well between us and so he thought he could get his way if he came over and bullied my mom. Its…its just too stupid" Pike took that as a cue not to enquire further so he just nodded and changed the subject.

"You say you hang around with cadets…have you ever thought about it for yourself, as a career option?" He didn't know why he was saying this. He supposed part of him wanted to practice his recruiting pitch and figured that the girl would be a good test case. Maybe it was an instinct. Maybe it was just the fact that he'd given too much of his life to this to say what he sometimes thought, that joining the Fleet was just asking the universe to mess with you.

D'Nal averted his gaze again "I, um…I don't think they'd want me. I've kinda got a criminal record"

"So did I. Any felonies?"

"No, just a couple of shoplifting charges and…I seem to get in bar fights a lot."

"Then you're good." There was a brief silence, or near silence for it was punctuated by Illyiana swearing from the other room and throwing things around the room.

"What's your rap sheet look like if I may ask?"

"I've also been known to appreciate a good bar fight in my day. Now I mainly break them up what with being a responsible adult and all. Also if you want to know something I was too young and hadn't finished high school."

"How did you get in? Are they really not picky or did you hack into the system or something?" Pike was pretty sure he heard the shower on in the other room, and the kind with water too, not a sonic.

"Archer just looked the other way, thought I had potential apparently. I know why they make you finish your education before enlisting but I feel like I learned everything I need to know at the academy. Of course I went to school on one of those godforsaken terraformed colonies that they only check in on every thirty years, it was a mess." As soon as he finished this thought he realized that he had somehow said the wrong thing by the look on her face. All D'Nal said though was

"Yeah, I know those places."

They were interrupted by Illyiana's return in a very tight black and silver dress, with a plunging neckline and two long slits up the side.

"You look lovely, where are we going?" he asked

"That Vietnamese place in the New Ferry Building with the great view. What were you two talking about?"

"The Captain was asking me if I'd ever considered a career in Starfleet." Illiyana whipped around and glared at Pike

"No! Chris…no! I cannot believe…"

"I was just asking her if she'd thought about it!" Protested Pike

"You are not turning her into a redshirt! I will not have my only daughter work as a target practice for bored Klingons!"

"First thing, Security personnel…" Illyiana visibly rolled her eyes "Redshirts have very high survival ratings considering the duration of the kind of missions we work and the amount of unknown and hostile species we encounter. Redshirts do not always die. MACOS especially…"

"No!"

"Anyway I never said "redshirt" she could be science, command, communications…there are a lot of different specialties"

Illiyana snorted "Yeah this girl sure looks like command material to me"

"Hey!" said Pike and D'Nal in unison

"Honey take it from someone who knows you. Starfleet is not for you. You do realize that you have to take orders people for a start"

"Mom if you knew me you'd realize that that is the one thing you could say that would make me go over to a recruiting center right now."

"You know what, I am late for my dinner reservation but we are going to talk about this later." She grabbed Pike by the arm and proceeded to pull him out the door. "I'll be back sometime tomorrow morning."

"Honestly Chris, what were you thinking?"

"I thought the spring rolls were great. I don't know what your problem was." They were lying together in the bed of Pike's new apartment staring up at the ceiling.

"You know what I mean. I was talking about my daughter" Pike took this as his cue to get up and pull on his clothes, he'd never been good at arguing naked. Illyiana remained among the rumpled bed sheets glaring at him.

"What on earth possessed you to try and recruit her? I realize you have this thing for hopeless cases…"

"Is that how you'd characterize D'Nal? I suppose I just thought that she could use her proclivities for good rather than property destruction. Also did that guy at your place call me pinkskin? I thought only Andorians used that one."

"Fine, we don't have to have this conversation. Just add it to the list of stuff we don't talk about." Pike rolled his eyes so hard at this one it was almost audible

"I have no problem talking about any of this. Most of the conversations we consider off limits are designated that way by you, if I may point out. Anyway I'm sorry. I didn't mean to corrupt your daughter. I always thought you felt that I worked for a benign if naïve organization. Or was that just part of your act to get asylum…"

"I do. I just don't share your assumption that bar fights are a mark of character."

"For your information, I don't try and recruit every drunk I come across. I just think that D'Nal seems like a good kid but a fight magnet." In response to this she got up and walked over to the window, clearly caring nothing about whoever might be watching and stood by his side looking out over the Presidio. All she said was;

"I suppose that's a fair assessment." In a way that made it clear that the subject was closed for the night. Then after a long silence she asked;

"So is it good to be home?"

"This isn't home. My home is currently headed out on routine patrol of the Neutral Zone without me. I know that's kind of a clichéd thing for a captain to say…"

"Yeah, well… its also a little clichéd for a starship captain to be with a green girl but…" She made a gesture with both hands as if to say 'but here we are'

"You're right…here we are"


	2. Old Friends

The sky had gone completely dark before Pike realized that if was probably time to leave. He checked the time on his computer and was relieved to find that it was only five o'clock, he didn't have to be at Archer's until eight. He wondered if it would be appropriate to ask his hosts for some advice on teaching. He may not like his new job but he sure as hell wasn't going to prove to anyone that he was incompetent in this as well. He felt that his current lesson plan was adequate but lacked a certain…honesty? Flair? Applicability?

His musings were interrupted by a knock on the door and looking up he saw someone he'd assumed to be light years away.

"One?"

"Hello Christopher" His surprise was met with her usual Mona Lisa smile. This was Number One, his former First Officer. She was attractive but there was something too cold and striking about her to call her pretty. Number One had very bright blue eyes, the kind that made you understand why people said "electric blue". She was practically as tall as he was with a thin willowy figure and a long boney sort of face.

"What brings you to this planet? I thought you were called back home to help deal with a territorial dispute." Asked Pike leaning back in his chair.

"Well its been settled. I don't believe the Gorn ever were going to invade, they may have exceedingly tiny brains but they aren't quite stupid enough to declare war on a member of the Federation…even if it is only little Illyria."

"Boy am I out of the loop. When I heard territorial dispute I just thought you were arguing with you neighbor about meters of empty space. No one tells me anything around here." Number One raised her eyebrow at him which could have meant anything but Pike took as a rebuke. So he changed the subject "Why just Illyria if I may ask?"

"A lot of planets in the Delphic Expanse used to be part of the Gorn Hegemony about a century ago…but of course you know that… every now and again they make noise about taking back what's rightfully there's. Also don't feel bad, the whole affair was highly confidential"

Pike nodded. Number One's home planet seemed to have this unfortunate predilection for getting invaded by every neighboring power who wanted to take a shot at empire building.

"If it's highly confidential, why are you telling me?" He asked her, teasing a bit

"Because you strike me as an fairly minor security risk"

"Wait, security risk?" Pike asked with only slightly fake indignation. He supposed he couldn't expect her to say something like 'I don't keep secrets from you', which is what he would say if the roles were reversed.

"Everyone is a security risk to one extent or another. Anyway enough of that, what about Phil?" Pike narrowed his eyes

"What about Phil?"

"Have you talked to him?" Said Number One in that tone of hers that stayed neutral but was creeping towards patronizing

"No, I haven't talked to him. Did he send you?"

"Of course not and I think you should" It was definitely patronizing now.

"I told him I wasn't speaking to him again."

Pike couldn't say he didn't regret that, in fact part of the reason he was so hesitant to make peace with his best friend was because he didn't know quiet how to go back after the particularly vicious argument they'd had at their last meeting.

"Which we all know was hyperbolic. It is my assessment that you will talk to him before the end of the month…and that is a generous estimate." Said Number One.

"Don't tell me what I'm going to do. While you were calculating the odds or whatever it is you do you must have remembered that I can stay mad for a hell of a long time."

Something about the smug tone with which she had said that, like he was so damn predictable. As soon as she said that Pike wanted to never speak to Phil again.

The reasonable part of his brain was telling the angry part that this reaction was incredibly immature and the angry part was just saying "go to hell" which sort of confirmed that assessment.

"You and Phillip have been friends for over thirty years. It seems rather senseless to throw that away over this. You are in the wrong Christopher, and what's more you know it."

"For one don't call him Phillip just to prove that you are an emotionless non-Terran who speaks like a computer… he prefers Phil and you know it…"

"See, you continue to worry about his feelings even though you are angry at him"

"Also I thought Illyrians didn't have friends, so why do you care about mine…heck why are you here?"

"We don't, but since your species considers friendship to be of great importance to your mental health and wellbeing…"

For all of One's analytical skills she really didn't have much in the way of social intelligence. When she'd been his XO they'd argued a lot, it was part of the reason he'd requested her; to balance his personality and command style. But when it came to any kind of interpersonal issue their discussions stopped being productive very quickly. Like right now, how she was making him even less willing to do what he knew he needed to do. But before anything else could happen he heard a commotion outside.

As the commotion drew nearer it became clear that it emanated from one extremely irate Orion woman.

"I don't care if someone else is in there I am going to give him a piece of my mind even if I have to stand here and yell it all night!" Number One, recognizing the voice, turned on Pike.

"Really Christopher?"

"Can you just give me five minutes here?" He asked instead of answering her directly. In response she turned on her heal and strode out of the room leaving him to face Illyiana alone. He sighed and walked out telling his beleaguered secretary that it was all right and he could go. Once he had gotten her into the room and closed the door they both started talking at the same time

"Do you realize…?"

"No, do you realize…?"

"That could have been important!"

"This is important, and anyway it wasn't…" Illyiana had now returned to normal decibel levels

"Yes it was, not of intergalactic significance I'll grant you, but considering my line of work it could have been…"

"Oh please" She shot back pulling a mirror out of her purse to check her lipstick "Maybe at one point but now that you're on fuckup duty…"

"Get out!"

"I haven't told you why I was mad in the first place!"

"I don't care, get out!" Pike threw open the door to emphasize his point

"No! I came here to yell at you because my daughter D'Nal enlisted in your precious Starfleet this morning. Of course this is all your fault."

"Well…I'm sorry…actually scratch that I'm not sorry. It was her decision, she's legally and adult and I think part of the reason she did this was to piss you off. So part of that's on you." Illyiana made a hand gesture that was her culture's equivalent of the middle finger

"You know what, I have to go. I have a date but I just want to let you know if anything happens to her I am going to come and kill you." She begun walking out of the office when a question from Pike stopped her

"Have you ever told her that?"

"Told her what?"

"That you're worried about her, that you don't want anything to happen to her, that your maternal instincts drove you to come up here to threaten me. Last night I got the impression you didn't want her to join because you didn't think she was up to it. I'm pretty sure she felt that too."

"Of course she's up to it"

"Have you told her that?" She dropped her gaze to the floor

"I've got to go, I'll see you this weekend Chris" She turned and flounced out of his office leaving him feeling very alone. After a few minutes of this he sighed in resignation.

"Damn it, One" he said softly to the silence and the empty air where she used to be.

*********

D'Nal had only been in Starfleet for about five hours and she was already regretting her decision. On the plus side her mother was furious also…wait that was about it. Well there was also the fact that Orion men tended to steer clear of Starfleet. She supposed there might be some nice ones out there but for now she was going to look at other species exclusively and hope that Haran and his dad felt uncomfortable enough to stay away form her here.

She'd signed a whole bunch of forms and after being measured for a uniform was given and orientation schedule and told to report at a time that she didn't even recognize as a time. She looked around at the barracks she was supposed to wait in and even though she knew they were just temporary until she got a permanent room assignment she could help but see the similarity to a prison. As much as she hated to admit it her mom was probably right about her unsuitability for an organization even as mildly military as this one.

But running away wasn't an option. Going back to her ex wasn't an option, if she went back to her mom she knew she'd never hear the end of it, but if she ran away where would she go? Besides the thought of what her mother would say when Pike told her that D'Nal had bailed was enough on its own to make her want to go sign up again.

Maybe this was actually really good, the opportunity she'd been looking for even though she didn't want to admit it, maybe this would be the thing that would help her get her life turned around. With this resolution she sat down to make herself comfortable only to have to get up again when a tall white Andorian came into the room and called her name.

"Cadet D'Nal"

"That's me." He curled his lip a little at this

"This is Starfleet, cadet; not a dentists waiting room. The correct form of address is 'yes sir' its not too soon to learn that"

"Sorry" she said then after a pause "Sir"

"That's somewhat better. Come with me to take your placement test." He turned to leave and D'Nal followed him.

"Can't you guys get my high school transcript?"

"This is for which track you wish to pursue"

"Oh I'll be security. You don't have to give me the…"

"You may end up in security if that is the proper place for you but first take the test. This is obligatory regardless of what track you wish to pursue. If you feel that the test has place you incorrectly you may appeal it." He said with a bored tone that suggested that this wasn't the first time he'd had to explain this.

"Ok, so if I flunk I wind up in security anyway, is that how it works?"

"No. You end up in security if you personality, preferences and abilities indicate that it is the best career for you. If you 'fail' the test you'll be asked to reconsider whether or not Starfleet is the right vocation for you." He responded with and exasperated glare

"Hey don't give me that look. If you explained all this at the beginning I wouldn't have to ask." He turned around so quickly that D'Nal almost ran into him.

"If you're given an order you are supposed to follow it without questioning."

"Oh like 'kill those civilians over there'?"

"Do you really think war crimes are funny?"

"Um…well…no…"

"Good. This way."

***********

Phil Boyce got up and paced around his office. His eyes were straining and he'd been sitting for too long. Keeping up with recent medical developments was an important part of his job but one that made him feel like he was back in school. He was interrupted by a knock on the door and opening found his former commanding officer.

"Evening Chris, what happened to the whole not speaking to me thing?"

"I…well…am I interrupting anything?" Pike fidgeted a little clearly going to a great deal of effort not to make eye contact with Boyce

"Not really, I'm in the middle of this really groundbreaking paper on the Suarian virus by some doctor from bumfuck nowhere Georgia...brilliant, brilliant stuff…but nothing that I can't do later." There was a tense pause

"I'm not apologizing" Said Boyce looking Pike straight in the eye despite his best efforts.

"Of course you're not. That's my job. Just as long as you're still speaking to me that is."

"No I'm still speaking to you. I wasn't the one to blow off my oldest dearest friend because I was pissed off about being reassigned."

"Phil…I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I know you were just trying to help me. I always knew that…its just…you've always been to one to convince me that I should keep going, that I wasn't crazy. So you telling me that I'd lost my mind…"

"Oh stop being such a drama queen. All I said was that you were running yourself ragged and were in need of some serious time off. For all your bitching about quitting the Fleet I knew that it was either this or I was going to have to drag you personally out of that captains chair kicking and screaming"

"Not if you tranquilized me first"

"That probably would be a good idea." They both smiled briefly and lapsed into an awkward if notably less tense silence.

"I'm just…I'm sorry. I'm sorry for being such an asshole to you Phil…"

"Forget it. Its your basic human right to be an asshole sometimes."

"I thought that was more of a basic Vulcan right"

"Oh no they have the right to be assholes twenty four seven, I'm pretty sure its in their constitution" Pike actually burst out laughing at this one

"I said some things I'm not proud of either. Like I'm sorry for calling you a sick son of a bitch in an official report."

"No I'm sick all right. Also if you knew my mother you'd know why I don't take offense at being called an SOB."

"You're not sick, not really" said Boyce softly

"I think my therapist would disagree with you"

"Oh god, they stuck you in counseling?" Groaned the doctor

"I'm afraid so…wait it wasn't your recommendation?"

"Fuck no. I can't stand therapy. That's what alcohol is for. Speaking of which its happy hour. Martini?"

"Thanks" Said Pike "I need one, I'm going over to Jonathan and T'Pol's for dinner."

Boyce looked at him with incredulity

"Why do you need booze to see them? I get that you and social situations have never really been close but this is Jon and Polly we're talking about."

"Does Admiral T'Pol know that you call her Polly behind her back?" Boyce just laughed at this in a way that said "Hell no" and decided to change the subject.

"Yeah I hear a certain pissed off ex girlfriend of ours paid you a visit earlier." Said Boyce with a rye smile.

"Wow, word gets around here pretty fast"

"Number One stopped by"

"Of course" Groaned Pike

"Did she put you up to coming around here?"

"She may have given me a lecture on the merits of friendship which she wouldn't know anything about of course."

"And yet you came"

"I'd been meaning to for a long time. When she came around I decided that I could either stay away because she'd annoyed me or take her advice. And that wasn't much of a choice."

"So how is Illyiana?"

"Her usual self, apparently her daughter's been having issues…one of the reasons she's angry at me. So I take it you haven't seen her recently?"

"We sort of broke up, not that we ever had much to begin with."

"Do you want me to stop seeing her?"

"No you do what you want. If she tries to veto you I'll be on your side." What Boyce was referring to was the system the three of them had devised to prevent the other two having to deal with annoying significant others any one of them might wish to collect. It was based on the mutual feeling that where boyfriends and girlfriends came and went, true companions where permanent and should not be alienated because of temporary infatuation. If the other two "vetoed" someone that one of them was seeing they had to dump the offending party. Since Pike and Boyce had both been with Illyiana at one point they stuck together whenever Number One raised any objections to her.

"Are you sure you don't still have…"

"Don't worry Chris. You have your fun, I'm too old for this shit."

"So am I Phil, so am I."


	3. All Happy Families

T’Pring walked through the market, trying to do her best, to take as much time as she could, weaving her way in between the stalls. She did not really have to buy anything but she wanted a reason to be out of the house. With grocery shopping one could always think of something else that was needed, or a new recipe to try. Just as long as the pantry wasn’t stocked to the point where buying more food was illogical, one could always justify some small purchase. Specifically, she debated with herself if she should get her grandfather something and use it as an excuse to go over there, or to take refuge in the library. The problem was that, at the library, she would not be able to explain her presence if someone recognized her. That had been the nice thing about her schooling, she had always had some work to do to keep her busy, and explain her continued presence outside of her home. 

Though she hated to admit it, her grandfather was right. She would have to figure out what to do with her life. But in the meantime she needed to find a project or go traveling. Earth might even be preferable to her current state of drifting.   
For a gift she settled on a Vulcan orchid; pointless, yes, but lovely. It was always difficult to tell what would be accepted as appropriately decorative and what would be considered ostentatious, plant life seemed to be considered safe in this matter. 

When she got to her grandfather’s she headed straight for the study and opened the door without knocking. As a result she wound up walking in on him in the middle of an intense conversation with Spock. She knew that the two were on good terms, her grandfather used to be ambassador to Earth before Sarek, and so the two had rather a lot in common. Her fiancée (or his parents) did come by the house occasionally, but it was still a rather nasty shock. He looked as though he felt that way too and quickly got up out of his chair, as if to leave, but her grandfather motioned him to sit down.   
“Greetings T’Pring, what brings you here today?”   
“I brought you a gift, I thought you might find this orchid aesthetically pleasing” Now especially glad that she did not have to explain why she would rather not be at home in front of Spock.   
“That was most thoughtful of you.” Said her fiancée in a transparently pathetic show of kindness to her. Why did he even bother? He did not like her any more than she liked him, why try and act like the kind of bondmates who looked forward to their lives together? The half-breed probably wanted to get on her grandfather’s good side. But of course he knew her too well   
“That was thoughtful of you. But is that all. How is your mother?”   
“I would rather not discuss family business now grandfather, not in present company” Hearing this Spock tried to get up again.  
“Minister Soval, I can wait outside if you two wish to talk in private”   
“Spock is family, or at any rate he will be.” Her grandfather fixed her with a look that made it clear that even though her words themselves had not been rude exactly he understood her intent and did not like it. ‘You wish he was our family’ She thought bitterly ‘You cannot have him for your grandson. Instead you have me. You do not really like me, though I admit you try. Spock is kind and inquisitive and you share interests. What is more, he is an outcast like you. You like his father because he is like you and you find his common mother charming. So us being married is closest you will get to replacing me’.   
She knew that it was pointless but she could not help resenting the friendship between the two. He had been glad to see their families joined, though not as distinguished as their own, Sarek’s line was an ancient one. She was sure that at one point he had wanted Sarek to bond with her mother. She had to admit he would make a better stepfather than either of her mother’s most recent husbands. But he had understood Sarek’s coming home with Amanda Grayson. As the former ambassador to Earth, he did not see her as the drawback that other families did when finding a husband for their granddaughters. T’Pring would have preferred Sybok personally, his mother had been a princess after all. But when she had become old enough to understand such things, and voiced this opinion to her grandfather, he had been quick to point out to her how lucky she was to have averted that disgrace.   
Back in the present T’Pring outlined her situation at home “My mother has locked herself in her room and refuses to speak to her husband. The household is in some disarray. She accuses him of cruelty towards her and I would not be surprised if she were correct. The two have been telling me to persuade the other of the logic of their relative positions. I fail to see how logic enters into it and so have declined. I am finding it rather difficult to maintain a position between two people who have now redirected a great deal of their animosity on to me.”  
“All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way” quoted the older man  
“Tolstoy” said Spock with all the alacrity of the teacher’s pet he was. She must look perplexed because he went on to explain “He was a human writer who lived during the 19th century. I knew Andorians were fond of Russian literature, but I did not know he was widely read here on Vulcan. You are right, this situation is reminiscent of the opening of Anna Karenina”   
“That statement is somewhat illogical.” Said T’Pring, again conscious of feeling left out. “Happy families come from various different races, classes and combinations of gender. In addition; no species that we know of wishes to be exactly the same. To be sentient, no matter how collectivistic a society is to wish to be an individual on some level. But it is also to seek out some version of happiness. One would have to chose between one’s own identity and contentment.” Her grandfather got up from behind his desk and begun to walk towards the window.   
“T’Pring I have talked to you before about using “illogical” as a catchall term, it is a bad habit. It is not illogical, merely one of those choices that one is often forced to make. If all choices were between good and bad, people would more frequently make the correct decision. But most choices in life between bad and worse.” There was a pause as he looked out over the dusty orange spires beyond the sanctuary of the back garden. “My, we have strayed from the topic.” He turned away from the view and back to the two young Vulcans.   
“So speaking of choices; Spock, are you certain of your decision?”  
“Yes Minister Soval, I believe I already was before I came here. However I am very grateful for your council. Now I know I have done the right thing.”  
“What is going on?” Asked T’Pring with a stab of annoyance. She may not want to marry the man, but since she did not have a choice, they could at least tell her about this decision   
“Spock has turned down an offer from the Vulcan Science Academy. He is going to Starfleet to teach and I for one think it will be a better fit.”  
“Because he is a human he should go and be with his own kind?” She has to exercise a great deal of caution to see that this does not come out as a snear  
“That is not what I meant and you know it.” He glared at her in a ‘we will talk about this later’ kind of way “Good day Spock, live long and prosper” Spock spread his hand in salute. As he was on his way out he turned   
“T’Pring I did want to talk to you, that was part of the reason I came to your grandfather, so that…”  
“Live long and prosper Spock” He took the hint and muttered ‘peace and long life’ before leaving the room. As soon as the door shut T’Pring spoke up  
“Why was I not consulted about this? I do not wish to be the wife of a Starfleet officer.”  
“You are looking for an excuse to disapprove of him. You always have. That my own granddaughter would be so bigoted against humans.”  
“I am not. I have nothing against them. Nor do I think it was wrong for Ambassador Sarek to have married one and had a son. I would be perfectly civil to him, friendly even, if I did not know I would have to share my life with him.”   
“Because his mother was a human” they locked eyes and she thought about saying that she did not care, but realized that it was hopeless. So she let out the spiteful truth, all of it.   
“Yes, fine. I do not approve of such a union. But it is not because I dislike humans but rather my respect for the traditions of Vulcan and my dislike of the role we are forced to play in this Federation that only came about because of the military necessity.”  
“You really have no idea what you are talking about. You sound just like your father. Do you wish to be like him?” In truth she did not. Her father had been a proud man, too proud. That is what comes when your family has always whispered about T’Pau behind closed doors. How those of noble blood, line of Surak, should rule Vulcan. He had probably been made to marry her mother to get in the good graces of the current administration. But that had lead to the opposite effect when he was found to be in the possession of some very compromising documents and tried for treason. It was a shame she had always born.   
“No grandfather, I do not. But I do wish for a consort of higher status. One who would ensure that I was gossiped about thanks to envy and not pity. I have enough of that, thanks to parents.”   
“One day you might change your mind. When you are more mature maybe you will care more for how you see yourself than how others view you. I know you wish to see yourself as far above Spock. But you have this in common; people are cruel in their assessment of both of you because of the sins of your parents, perceived or real.” T’Pring rolled her eyes ever so slightly but in a way that was a very dramatic gesture for a her species but probably would go unnoticed by most humans   
“Maybe it is better this way. Maybe now that he will not be on the planet I will only have to see him during Pon Farr. That would be bearable” She had meant to shock him by bringing this up, but the elderly Vulcan diplomat just shook his head sadly.  
\------  
As Spock headed back home he thought that one of the advantages of joining Starfleet was that it seemed possible that T’Pring might convince her grandfather to annul their marriage agreement. This made him guilty, since it was illogical to wish his engagement at an end. He would need a mate at some point and it was an honor to be joined to such a prestigious family. It was just that… he had been raised by two parents who were very fond of each other, maybe even in love. When he thought about his future spouse, he had always hoped that they might share the same kind of affection. But there would be no chance of that with T’Pring, whose contempt for him was almost palpable. Soval was unlikely to want out of the marriage and it would be the last thing his father would want. He knew his mother had her doubts so he never told her about his. If she knew, she would definitely try to get him out of it. At least Soval’s approval and his continued engagement to T’Pring might make his father less furious. Well if not less angry at least not give him another reason to be so. 

He knew that his father would not approve but he never realized that it would be almost as bad as when Sybok left. He had been young then but he still remembered the arguments; lying awake staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep with the sound of his parents yelling or his father and brother tearing into each other beating a refrain from the other room. How hard his mother had worked to try and appeal the decision to have her stepson banished, how she had taken his side against his father. 

When Spock returned home his father was in the living room reading. His eyes flicked to the door, then quickly back to his data pad and he continued pretending that his son had not come in. Spock suppressed a hint of irritation that rose to the surface at this. But he also saw in a very abstract sense how there was a certain amount of humor in this situation. At this moment his mother came into the room holding a pile of sweaters.  
“Spock, sweetie, do you have any idea how much room you’re going to have in your closet? I feel like you should just take all of your winter stuff because it is going to be freezing in San Francisco compared to what you’re used to.”  
“Mother I believe you exaggerate. It is not “freezing” San Francisco, in fact it has one of the mildest climates on Earth, with an average temperature range between 50 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit in both the summer and the winter.” Amanda Grayson rolled her eyes  
“I know that, I used to live there before I met your dad. But unless you’re going to be living in the Australian outback everything is colder on Earth than here and because you’re half Vulcan, your physiology is meant to tolerate extreme heat. Trust me you’ll get cold easily. You know what, once we get there we should look into getting you some hats, and maybe a pair of gloves…oh and scarves. Those will be good I always had a bunch of them because they were easy to stuff in a bag or throw on when the temperature changed. Thinking about you heading over there is bringing back all these little memories…”  
On the other side of the room, Sarek cleared his throat   
“None of this would be necessary Amanda, if Spock had chosen to stay here and accept a position at the Vulcan Science Academy.” His mother’s face took on a bitter, pinched expression.  
“Spock, I don’t know why your father thinks I’m going to respond to that, since I have made it clear that if he refuses to talk to you, I’m not talking to him. Anyway I know in terms of temperature it doesn’t get that cold there but when the wind comes off of the Bay it feels really cold, and there’s the damp and the fog. You’re going to want your sweaters is what I’m saying. By the way how are you feeling after your talk with Minister Soval?”   
He takes a minute to answer this but when he does he says what he’s always used to tell his mother that he is all right without admitting to any particular emotion  
“I feel fine, mother”


	4. Command Track

After leaving Phil’s a little tipsy (but by no means drunk) Pike made his way over to the part of campus that gave way to a more residential neighborhood where the faculty were housed. Pike himself would be reassigned here soon and it looked like a nice place to live, he told himself. People assumed that officers like him, who spent most of their time in space, were used to moving around. 

He remembered watching a very old film about the Second World War, something about a Japanese POW camp, and a bridge, the word bridge had been in the title…But though he couldn’t remember most of the film; one line the main character had said stuck with him. Even then he only remembered the substance of it. The British officer said that; he’d been in the army for twenty-eight years and probably hadn’t been home for ten months of that time and that he now realized he was nearer the end than the beginning and wondered what his life had really meant, weather he’d made any difference. Of course that man had been right about being nearer the end than the beginning, since the film had ended with the deaths of almost all of the main characters. 

However, that character’s mediations were disturbingly relevant to Pike, who had recently become uncomfortably aware of his own middle age. Though he’d passed his prime about a decade ago and despite what people said about forty being the new twenty, he hadn’t minded so much. In fact he felt it rather suited him, gave him more of an air of authority. On turning fifty he hadn’t minded either, he felt that he’d achieved some degree of stability. Whenever he heard other men wax nostalgic about their adolescence he’d thought “why would anyone want to be a teenager again?” and he felt almost the same way his twenties. 

But now he felt different. Like he was a relic from another era, probably not even his own, but one that had passed away long ago or not have existed in the first place. He had always felt like this, but his recent reassignment and made it more and more present in his interactions. No, for a man who spent most of his time in other galaxies he didn’t really like moving around. As he had said the other night to Illyiana his ship had been his home. It hadn’t mattered what new planet he set down on, at the end of the day he went back to sleep in the same small room with some civilian clothes, physical books, and assorted keepsakes. His meditation on aging was interrupted by his reaching T’Pol and Archer’s place, which paradoxically made him feel like a cadet again.   
It was T’Pol who opened the door and Pike noticed she’d grown her hair out again. It suited her, she was a very attractive woman but even she hadn’t managed to make that bowl cut look any good. If it weren’t for the eyebrows you wouldn’t know she was a Vulcan, especially now that her hair covered her ears. She was the first of her species he’d ever met and even then he could tell she was a little odd. He handed her the bottle of rose he’d brought over a little sheepishly, since he didn’t know enough about wine to say if it was good or what food it would go with. ‘I should have brought flowers’ he thought. He did actually have a decent eye for those, though his taste in arrangements ran pretty simple. But she smiled and thanked him for it none the less

“Christopher” She didn’t say his name like a greeting, more as an assessment “How nice to see you again”   
“Same to you”  
They embraced briefly before three small beagles came racing to the door and they had to close it to prevent the dogs from running out into the street.   
“Hey there Chris!” Jonathan emerged from the kitchen carrying another squirming beagle puppy, which he put on the floor to pull Pike into a tight one armed hug.   
“How have you been Admiral?”  
“Are you really calling me ‘admiral’ right now?”  
“I always have”   
Archer shook his head affectionately at this but didn’t push   
“I’m not going to ask if you’re excited about your new posting because I know you’re already itching to be back on a starship. But training cadets is fun and I think you’ll be good at it” 

He was immediately grateful for that. One of the reasons he’d been less than enthusiastic about reconnecting with people was his aversion to having to act like he was fine with all this. When people want to know how you’re doing you’re supposed to say ‘good’. If you can’t, you obligate them to listen to you complain about your life. And he didn’t like complaining…that never stopped him but still he didn’t like it. He was also questioning whether or not people knew exactly why he’d been reassigned or guessed correctly…or guessed incorrectly. He didn’t care for any of those options. But there was none of that with Archer, he knew Christopher too well to make him pretend. He just gave him a pick me up and told him not to feel sorry for himself without any of the dismissal that normally comes along with that sentiment. 

“Thanks, I’m not so sure about that. Commander Garcia gave me his lesson plans and briefed me on the curriculum now that he’s retiring. So I know the material, I’m just a little hesitant about working with students.”  
“They are not so bad…well one gets used to them” offered T’Pol “Besides I heard that Phil Boyce and Number One are grounded as well. So you will have the rest of the unholy trinity to back you up.” He didn’t think that nickname was entirely deserved. However it did help to illustrate his point about dealing with students; he remembered what he was like when he was one.   
“And you can finally tell Number One how you really feel” Interjected Archer as he picked up one of the puppies before it could lift its leg on an antique sculpture of Surak next to the umbrella stand prompting T’Pol to roll her eyes and make a comment about how she should know better than to leave sacred items anywhere the dogs had access to them.   
Pike wasn’t sure how to respond to Archer’s comment. He didn’t want to be snide or aggressive, as was his usual first reaction to this kind of medalling. But he was shocked that Archer was still convinced that there was anything between the two of them and irritated at the prospect of having to have this conversation again. Thankfully T’Pol came to his rescue   
“Jonathan, leave Christopher alone. He can make his own decisions as far as his romantic attachments are concerned. Anyway we should probably head into the kitchen and check on the curry” Archer absentmindedly pecked her on the cheek in   
“All right, I’ll let it be. I just think bold handsome captains and their gorgeous logical first officers belong together”  
“I cannot bring myself to contradict that statement”  
Dinner was exceedingly pleasant. They good-naturedly concluded that Pike’s wine selection did not, in fact, go with the curry and decided on beer instead. Although growing up on a ranch had shaped him into as close to a carnivore as humanly possible, he had to admit to enjoying their take on vegetarian food. They were both pretty good cooks and it was always fun to see the way couples like this adapted different dishes to work for both cultures. Even though he was having a good time he couldn’t help noticing that Archer seemed to be struggling to remember things and had to be prompted by his wife more than once. This shouldn’t surprise him, the man was over a hundred after all. But that had been easy to forget during his time at the academy. He felt a little guilty for not making more of an effort to stay in touch.   
After dinner he said goodbye to Archer and T’Pol walked him out to his train stop.  
“So how is he?” He asks, not sure if she wanted this question or if she had one of her own   
“Still very sharp considering…” she trails off. He can’t imagine what this must be like for her. This kind of thing is difficult for humans. As a Vulcan he knew her emotions ran deeper but her culture left her with fewer options as to how to confront them. He can’t imagine what it would be like to look at a spouse and know that (in the best of circumstances) you would outlive them by decades, maybe even a century.   
“I will not lie, things are becoming more difficult, even everyday tasks. Because of the nature of our bond I can mitigate some of the effects but…the fact of the matter is that humans are not meant to live this long”   
Pike nods at this looking at the ground so that T’Pol won’t see the expression on his face. It was something he always did as a boy, when he needed a moment to arrange his face, so that it didn’t betray any weakness to his father. Not that it bought him much time; a couple of minutes before his dad yelled that he would tan his hide if he didn’t look him in the eyes.   
“He seems to be in good spirits” Is all he’s able to say  
“Yes and he was glad to see you tonight” He looks at her then and notices that her little smile is pretty similar to One’s   
“Well I was glad you guys had me over. It was good to catch up. I’ll make an effort now that I’m in town to…you know if you need anything please let me know, I’d like to help if I can” He doesn’t know if he’s supposed to be feeling like this, like a son just home from college who hasn’t bothered to call in months, not realizing his help might be needed   
“Thank you Christopher, I will keep your offer in mind for the future. Have a good evening and…” she hesitated but went ahead anyway as if fighting her own better judgment “I know you dislike it when people attempt to give you advice about your personal life but… I think now would be a good time to examine your feelings and what you really want out of life. I am not talking about Number One…” She interjects as he opens his mouth “Even if you two do “belong together” as my husband seems to think. It is my belief that no one really belongs with anyone. I was married before him, I was bonded before him and if things had turned out differently I might still be with Trip.” From her tone of voice it’s difficult to tell if she would have preferred that. She doesn’t sound sad exactly but her words have a certain weight to them. Of course he knew plenty about Tucker, but when either of them mentioned him it was always in the context of a story about the good old days. He’s not sure that this is something he really should of heard. 

“But it does not due to focus on what could have been. I also do not believe we belong solely to any one profession” She says after a short pause and punctuated by a very meaningful look. Not for the first time he wonders about the extent of Vulcan telepathy or if she and Phil have been talking about him behind his back. He is also acutely aware of the fact that they are standing on a sidewalk corner between the house and the train stop, their conversation wasn’t supposed to go for this long.   
“People in our line of work are uniquely placed to see how many different possibilities are contained within a single lifespan. I think you know of what I speak” Once again he was left with an uneasy feeling that she knew more about him than he was comfortable with.   
“I’m assuming that what you are so ominously referring to are alternate realities”   
“I was one of the admirals who looked over your case file. I did not tell anyone else and I doubt they noticed it, but I couldn’t help but notice that your difficulties started relatively soon after you alone were trapped in a temporal anomaly.”  
Well now he knows what she’s been getting at this whole time. On the one had he’s glad that she doesn’t know anything more private than that. But he finds it unsettling in its own way that she saw guessed that it had profoundly effected everyone else looked at that Captain’s Log and only saw that Pike had had a weirder than usual day at the office.   
“I just got stuck repeating the same day for a week” he lies “Live long and prosper T’Pol” She gives him another long hard look but weather or not she sees through his deception he couldn’t say.   
“Peace and long life Christopher. If you wish to talk you know where to find me”

\------------

D’Nal found herself standing in the middle of her new room staring at a mattress. Neatly folded on top of that were standard issue sheets, pillows, and a comforter as well as a sleek grey bag with a delta logo on the side. She opens it up to find three newly replicated red cadet’s uniforms and one grey dress uniform. Underneath them a data PADD, communicator, first aid kit, basic set of toiletries and a folded Federation flag. It’s this last item that she takes out of its case as she lets it unfurl. On a dark blue background white dots spread out in a circle nestled between two olive branches. She noticed how someone had tried to make it more exciting with a roughly triangular pattern of larger diamond shaped stars.   
She knew this flag well, living in the same city as Federation headquarters it was unavoidable. It had been plastered on the wall of every classroom, flew from every embassy and consulate, and was displayed on anything related to Starfleet. San Francisco had a good sized Orion population but growing up she’d always been acutely aware that her species were classified as enemies of the Federation. When she was young she couldn’t tell the difference between herself and any of the other alien children. Why did people look askance at her for having green skin and not the blue people with the antennae or the ones with snouts and hooves? But legally she was a citizen of Earth, the same as any human and she’d never seen Orion before never known any loyalty to any state not represented by the flag in her hand. Her mother never really talked about her life before she came to Earth. When she did it tended to be about things like food or holidays or the village where she’d grown up. Mainly she used it as a way to chastise D’Nal whenever she complained; how lucky she was to live somewhere without disease or poverty where she got a say in who governed her and didn’t have to live in fear of the Syndicate. ‘I risked a lot to come here to give you a better life, and this is how you repay me?’ was the usual refrain. Illyiana didn’t believe in much but she believed in the Federation. She thought it was doomed of course, but still that was something.   
This brought D’Nal to a different kind of ‘what the hell did I just do?’ realization than the one she had had earlier. Now it hit her that this was more than just a stupid career move; she had signed up to represent, defend, and (if necessary) lay down her life to protect this way of life, these ideals, this political entity. How was she supposed to do this when she screwed up everything else she’d ever tried? She wasn’t even good at being bad, she always got caught and any fight she started she usually wound up regretting. That was it, she was leaving. It didn’t matter what her mom said, she was way in over her head here she started heading for the door when a girl her age and already wearing a cadet’s uniform came in with what looked like the rest of her family. The girl dropped her bag on the bed and enthusiastically held out her hand to D’Nal  
“Hi! Marlena Moreau. It’s nice to meet you” D’Nal looked at her hand for a second wondering if she shouldn’t just leave now but the other girl was giving her such a friendly smile that running away from her seemed extremely rude so after an awkward pause she shook her hand and introduced herself.   
“So I guess we’re going to be roommates.” Marlena said brightly as her father started unpacking her suitcase and her mother went to have a look out the window “I was hoping to get your name and some info sooner but then again this isn’t a regular college, just got to get used to going where they send me I guess. Anyway, I’m sure we’re going to have a great year together.”  
“Um…yeah totally so you enlisted a while ago?” Fumbled D’Nal partially feeling guilty about her earlier desire to bolt and partly thinking that Marlena must be pretty naïve to just assume her new roommate who she just met wasn’t a complete lunatic  
“When I was looking at colleges I applied here for the honors chemistry program and I got accepted back in March. Which department are you with?”  
This made D’Nal’s mind go blank until she remembered that they’d said the answers would be posted at 0300 which she was pretty sure meant 3 o’clock.   
“I…well I just enlisted and I took that placement test earlier today. Here let me take a look at this it should show the results now.”  
She picked up her data PADD found the display for her forms and clicked on it. Once she read it she just stared at the two words on the screen not sure how to explain them until Marlena chimed in   
“Is there something wrong?”  
“There’s got to be a mistake here, it has me listed as Command Track”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry its been forever since I last updated but life has been kind of crazy recently 
> 
> Just a note on the copious Enterprise references; I am fonder of the series than most Trek fans out there but also it just gives us a convenient set of mentor figures for our heroes. Sorry if its confusing for anyone. Also I am a T'Pol/Archer shipper but thats not why poor Trip is dead in this, I'm just bad at writing fix it fic and don't read the novels where I've read they bring him back.

**Author's Note:**

> Just thought I'd let you know that I realize there is a discrepancy between the way Starfleet Academy is portrayed here and what we know of it from TNG, DS9 and VOY. I am basing my depiction from what we know of the Abramsverse during the TOS era. I think the gap can be explained by the large amount of time that has passed between the different series.


End file.
